Say what you want about the exterior design of the new second-gen Porsche Panamera that debuted Tuesday afternoon in Berlin, Germany. But there’s no denying the all-new luxury sports sedan is smart. Let me explain.
Look past the Panamera’s new turbocharged V6 and V8 engines and its 911-like rear-end. Heck, you can even ignore its fancy new 8-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission. You can’t, however, ignore the car’s impressive new Porsche Innodrive system.
Like so many other modern luxury cars, InnoDrive includes adaptive cruise control, which can automatically accelerate and slow the car based upon information gathered from forward-mounted radar and digital cameras. Since this is a Porsche, though, InnoDrive takes it one step further.
In order to both improve the driving experience and make the car more efficient, InnoDrive uses navigation technology to look 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) down the road.
With that longview, including posted speed limits, the Panamera can perfectly calculate ideal throttle position, brake pressure and even transmission gear for every bit of the road ahead. That means it’s never caught off guard hauling too fast — or too slow — into a blind corner.
2017 Porsche Panamera’s interior.
But of course Porsche would have an advanced electronic driver aide that improves driving rather than tarnishing it, it’s one of the few luxury carmakers that has said it won’t make a self-driving car.
InnoDrive isn’t the only tech the new Panamera has onboard. Beneath its 12.3-inch touchscreen, it has a series of touch-sensitive panels that flank the transmission gear selector. These are individually configurable, which means you can set your favorite, go-to features right at your finger tips for quick-access.
2017 Porsche Panamera has lots of tech onboard.
The new Panamera also includes another forward safety system: night vision. With a thermal imaging camera up front, it can scan the road ahead and detect people or large animals. When one is found, it will project the color highlighted warning in the instrument cluster.
When it’s all said and done, the 2017 Porsche Panamera uses technology — from driver’s aides to engine developments — not to remove humans from driving, but instead enhance the experience behind the wheel and make it safer.
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